Damn
by Starlite Princess
Summary: Max finds Alec a little too distracting - and decides to take drastic measures.


This is the first legible thing that I have written in the last few months that has not led me to want to throw my computer out the window. I figure it's progress :) Although it made more sense when I was writing it at three o'clock in the morning. It wasn't til I sent it off to be betaed that I realised it was nothing more than a piece of crap. On that note, a special thanks to Baloo, not only for doing a fabulous beta job, but also for making me feel better.

Damn 

It was a dark and boring night. The kind of night that you could throw tantrums on and eat cookies. Max was doing neither, although she would have liked the chance to throw a tantrum. As it was, she was only seconds away from crumpling up the multitude of papers scattered across the table. Instead, she settled on throwing her pen halfway across the room, where it bounced off a nearby bookshelf and clattered to the cement floor.

Sighing, she pushed off the chair and went to retrieve the pen.

As she straightened up, her eyes skimmed across the bookshelf, flitting over the worn paperbacks. There were quite a few, spanning practically every genre: science fiction, fantasy, tear-jerking angst, crime fiction … She had no idea as to why Alec had so many books in his office. It wasn't as though he had a lot of time to actually read - running a nation was a full time job.

Well, since Alec was running things, she could probably put her feet up. The supply lists could wait a few hours. Besides, she could certainly use a distraction.

Again her eyes ran up and down the selection, finger trailing lightly across the books. She stopped, grinning as she pulled out a very old, very worn, and very heavy volume.

She made her way to the tattered couch propped up against the opposite wall, flicking rapidly through the faded pages, and settled into the musty cushions with the book on her lap. As she immersed herself in the magical world of the boy wizard, Harry Potter, the real world slipped away into nothingness.

Max looked up as the door was flung open and Alec strode into the room and headed directly for his desk. He didn't seem at all surprised to see her. 

"Hey Max," he said quietly. "Sorry, I just have to go over the plans for tomorrow's recon."

She arched an eyebrow, placing her hand down flat on the book to mark her place. "Want me to leave?"

He grinned distractedly. "Nah, I think I can handle your presence."

Max rewarded him with a brief smile before turning her attention back to the book. She was feeling relaxed and comfortable, the book was getting interesting, and the heat was actually working. Things were going swimmingly. 

At least until Alec decided that, for whatever reason, he was unable to work at his desk. He grabbed a sheaf of papers from a drawer and plonked down on the opposite end of the couch. Things deteriorated rather rapidly at that point.

It wasn't a very big couch. Barely big enough for three people to fit in it comfortably. And the springs definitely left something to be desired. It was as a result of these perilous - and evil - springs that Alec shuffled sideways to avoid the one that was digging into his butt, shifting across so he was only inches away from Max's curled up feet. 

After this, Max read one sentence seven times before she realised what was so distracting. 

His hair was damp. 

Alec had evidently taken a shower recently, and the scent of shampoo and soap was slowly seeping into her consciousness. It was ordinary soap, ordinary shampoo, the same soap and shampoo that was distributed to every inhabitant of Terminal City. But coming from him … It was a damned good thing that toiletries didn't usually get her attention this badly, or else she'd never get anything done. Her jazzed up senses picked up everything: the smell of leather and fresh air, the hint of his aftershave, the play of light against the smooth planes of his face, the friction of his leather jacket rubbing against the worn material of the couch … 

Dragging her attention back to the book, Max shifted her position, pulling her legs up underneath her lithe frame, resting the book on her knees. She then turned on her side and crossed one leg over the other. Then she repeated the action with the other leg. Finally, she sat up straight with the book resting on her lap, staring down at the dog-eared pages, willing her frazzled mind to read the printed words.

But her concentration had completely deserted her.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a hint of movement as Alec ran his hand through his hair, mussing the damp strands so they stuck up in all directions. She turned to face him, nibbling at her lower lip in thought as she studied his profile. His hair was messy and falling all over his forehead, his eyes were thoughtful as he flipped through the sheaf of papers.

He didn't look any different today. He looked the same as the day she'd met him. Sure, his hair was a little longer now and just brushed the collar of his jacket, and his eyes were a lot more shadowed than they'd been - life hadn't been easy for any of them. 

But he was still the same Alec.

So why was she so damn distracted?

Alec's eyes narrowed slightly but he didn't take his attention away from the papers in his hand. Realising that she'd been staring at him for quite a while, Max again turned her attention back to her book, determined to continue reading without further distraction. However, in her frazzled state of being, she knew that was just not possible.

There she was, sitting there minding her own business and in the middle of a favourite book, when Alec decided to walk in and turn her night upside down. Coming into the room with his cute grin, traipsing around the office and sitting right next to her instead of sitting at his desk where he belonged. Acting all cute and innocent, looking all boy-like and charming, with his hair sticking up all over the place and being all endearing - it just wasn't fair! 

The nerve of the man.

Granted, his desk did look like a bit of a disaster area. Sure, it was her mess scattered all over the aforementioned desk that resulted in his current position. Fine, it was probably also her fault the couch springs were broken. How was she to know what would happen when she pushed Alec into the office during one of their spats? And sure, it was his office …

But that wasn't an excuse, damnit!

"Max, are you all right?"

Max's head snapped up in surprise. She blinked and bit her lip. "Yes …" she whispered hesitatingly.

Alec gave her a look. "Are you sure?"

Her face flushed. "Positive," she ground out.

"You just seem a little …" Alec paused as though considering. He seemed genuinely concerned. He reached over and cupped her chin in one hand and tilted her face up to meet his gaze. "… distracted."

Max felt her resolve - and her sanity - melt away completely. All she could concentrate on was the feel of Alec's hands on her face, the closeness of his body, the scent of that damn soap. How on earth could he do that to soap?! A tremor raced through down her spine as she gazed into those hazel eyes.

"That's it!" she declared loudly, pulling away from his too gentle hands. She glared at him accusingly and stabbed her index finger against his chest. "This is entirely your fault."

Alec squirmed slightly under her intense gaze and his eyebrow arched in bemusement. "What?"

"This!" Max yelled, sweeping her arm around in a wide arc and knocking the book of her lap in the process. She'd snapped. Gone completely over the deep end. She knew it, but there was no helping it. There was no avoiding the issue: if she didn't clear things up now, she'd be a raving lunatic for the rest of her days and Mole would probably insist on institutionalisation. "Everything!"

Alec wisely chose to remain silent.

Max glared at him a moment longer before launching back into a rather involved diatribe. "I was sitting here minding my own business and reading a really good book, all sane and mentally stable, until you waltz into the office and sit right next to me, all innocent and boy-like and smelling so good and being all Alecy - and then I can't concentrate on my book anymore cause my brain stopped working and it's NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!"

Her voice had steadily been rising throughout her speech and, as a result of this gradual crescendo, her last words were somewhat loud in the confined stillness of office. 

She looked down at the floor. "Damn, you're driving me crazy."

As she realised what she'd just said - on top of everything else - her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth as though to prevent any further verbal mishaps. She scrambled up off the couch and slowly began backing away.

Alec, who had remained silent through the entire display of ingenuity, looked up at the befuddled brunette with a small smile. He pushed the papers aside and stood up slowly, pushing his hand through his hair. His eyes sparkled with a mysterious light. He took a step forward.

Max took a step backward.

At her reflexive action, Alec couldn't help but grin. "So," he said conversationally. "Crazy, huh."

Max swallowed and nodded, very slowly.

Alec took the final few steps until he was only inches away from Max. He reached out and took her hand and brought it up to his lips, brushing his mouth across her knuckles. At the first feather-light touch Max was more than ready to melt into a miscellaneous puddle of goo at his feet. Alec dropped her hand, fingers still entwined, and met her gaze.

"I kinda like you crazy."

He tugged at her hand then and, since she wasn't expecting it, she fell forward into his arms. Her breath caught in her throat as his lips slammed against hers. Shivers of awareness raced up and down her spine. She was freefalling into an ocean of colour and light, a place of heady abandonment and passion - at that moment she would have followed Alec into the mouth of a volcano without a second thought if he'd asked her to.

It was a scary thought. Besides, he had no right to kiss her after all the mental trauma he'd put her through only minutes before. It just wasn't fair!

"I don't think so, pretty boy!" she declared angrily.

Alec appeared to be nonplussed by her pulling away. Another tug at her hand sent her careening into his chest and his arm slipped around her waist, pushing her firmly up against him. For Max it seemed as though her backbone had completely collapsed. She honestly believed that, if his arm hadn't been so firmly wrapped around her, she would have fallen into a boneless heap.

With a teasing smile, Alec brushed his mouth against hers again and again, never touching for more than the briefest of seconds. His other hand crept achingly across the curve of her hip, sliding up her side and her back, finally moving to dance through her hair. "Are you sure about that?" Alec whispered tantalisingly against her mouth.

This time, Max didn't even consider using words. They just seemed irrelevant - and slightly silly under the circumstances. Instead, she slid her hands slowly up his arms to twine around his neck, her fingers threading into the damp strands of his dark blond hair, and she closed the practically non-existent gap between their lips.

She was completely and utterly gone, there was no mistaking that. 

Addicted and there was no going back.

Completely at his mercy.

She gave in.

Damn it was worth it.

The End


End file.
